The Cosmopolitan Tribe

The New York Times' Ross Douthat muses on his experiences as a cosmopolitan and observes that his globalist peers form a tribe, however much they might deny it. See his mea culpa.

It’s a problem that our tribe of self-styled cosmopolitans doesn’t see itself clearly as a tribe: because that means our leaders can’t see themselves the way the Brexiteers and Trumpistas and Marine Le Pen voters see them.

They can’t see that what feels diverse on the inside can still seem like an aristocracy to the excluded, who look at cities like London and see, as Peter Mandler wrote for Dissent after the Brexit vote, “a nearly hereditary professional caste of lawyers, journalists, publicists, and intellectuals, an increasingly hereditary caste of politicians, tight coteries of cultural movers-and-shakers richly sponsored by multinational corporations.”

They can’t see that their vision of history’s arc bending inexorably away from tribe and creed and nation-state looks to outsiders like something familiar from eras past: A powerful caste’s self-serving explanation for why it alone deserves to rule the world.

Sure enough, Ross, the culpa is yours and your buddies', who probably won't thank you for ratting them out. BTW, Joel Kotkin called your group "the clerisy," which assortative mating is making into a literal tribe. Hat tip to Instapundit for the link.